Dreams of Forever
by QueenNeens
Summary: Elena tries to save Damon when he is kidnapped and tortured by Stefan.


**This is a little thing that was inspired by a RP thread I was a part of. It was quite painful to write. I have had numerous stories like this one floating around in my head for a while now. Hopefully you die of feels like I did. Enjoy!**

* * *

The town of Mystic Falls, Virginia was an all-together quiet place. Today was no different. Each citizen went about his or her business as usual. It was only at the Salvatore Boarding House, that something new was still being heartily celebrated.  
Upstairs, in the bathroom of the eldest Salvatore brother, in the bathtub of the eldest Salvatore brother, laid two newlyweds, basking in the glow of their latest climaxes. Elena Gilbert-Salvatore lay happily on the chest of Damon Salvatore, her new husband.

"Mr. Salvatore…" She sighed, contentedly.  
"Yes, Mrs. Salvatore?" He replied, sleepily.  
"Nothing. I just wanted to hear you say it again." She smiled, snuggling further into his embrace.  
Damon smiled and leaned his head back against the tub.  
As they drifted off to sleep, the two spouses thought, as one, "Man, I love this bathtub."

* * *

Elena was running through the forest. At first she wasn't exactly sure why. Then she heard a scream come from a little ways ahead of her. She picked up her pace, soon bursting through the bushes, coming to a halt at the steps of the Lockwood Cellar.

"Wake up. I'm not finished with you yet." Came a voice from below.  
She knew that voice.  
Elena rushed down the steps, desperate to save Damon. Taking the last two slowly, she kept to the shadows at first. She knew he would sense her, but she was disturbed by the sigh before her.

Damon was tied by the wrists, hanging from the ceiling, much like he did when Rebekah had tortured him.  
His chest was rife with cuts from some sort of blade, blood dripping down his torso. It was his back, though, that made Elena's stomach turn. The flesh of his back was marred with slashes from a whip. Long criss-crossing red marks that would scar any lesser man.

"Come to save the day?" Stefan asked, turning his head ever so slightly, his back still to her.  
Elena winced. She hated Stefan like this. Ever since they broke up, he had slowly slipped back into his old routine, finally relapsing completely into his Ripper ways.  
"Why are you doing this?" She whispered.  
"Elena-" Damon groaned. "Get out of here. You shouldn't be here!"  
In a flash, Stefan sped over to Damon and stabbed him hard in the stomach. Damon growled in his effort not to scream.  
"She wasn't talking to you." Stefan said, wiping the blood from the blade on Damon's jeans.  
"Stefan stop! Please!" Elena begged. She moved closer to them by a few steps.  
"You stay where you are." Stefan ordered. "Now why don't you ask your question again."

Elena stared at Stefan's back while he ran his hands, almost lovingly, over each knife and tool on the table in front of him.  
"Why are you doing this?" She repeated.  
Stefan chuckled to himself, as if enjoying a private joke.  
"He's a thief." He said simply. He faced her now, leaning on the table behind him. "Isn't that right, Damon?"  
"Fuck you." Damon spat, flecks of blood flying from his mouth as he did.

Elena did her best to keep her face expressionless, but the way Stefan was twirling the knife he held between his fingers, could only be described as calculating, and Damon looked like he couldn't take much more.  
"What did he take, Stefan? What could you possibly have that he would want?"  
Stefan looked at her the way one looks at a child who just isn't getting the point.  
"He took my humanity." He said.  
"What? No. Klaus took your humanity. Damon and I brought you back!" Elena insisted.  
"Exactly!" Stefan said, emphatically.  
Elena shook her head. "I-I don't understand."  
"He means you." Damon choked.  
"Me?" She looked from Stefan, to Damon, and back.  
Stefan stepped toward her, trying to make her understand.  
"You were the last tie to my humanity, Elena. When you left me… I had nothing."

Elena eyed his right hand as he spoke, watching the knife as it whistled through the air every time he gestured.  
"Stefan, you were the one who broke things off." She stated cautiously.  
"Because you were already his!" He shouted, jabbing the blade in Damon's direction. "He stole you from me!"  
Elena could see the passion in Stefan's eyes, the craze. She tried to take a few more steps toward Damon. She needed to get him free so they could escape.  
"Don't!" Stefan shouted, stopping Elena in her tracks.  
"Stefan, please." She begged. "Please, let him go."  
Her pleas only seemed to make Stefan angrier.  
"I'll go with you." She blurted. "I'll go with you, if you just – please Stefan – let Damon go."

Stefan's eyes brightened, his shoulders straightening. "You'll be mine again?" He sounded so hopeful, yet so broken.  
Elena nodded. "I'll be with you. We'll be together and nobody has to get hurt."  
"No, Elena!" Damon shouted.  
Stefan seemed to consider this for a moment before walking silently over to Damon and unlatching the chain that held him to the ceiling.  
As soon as the lock was open, Damon fell to the dirt floor. He groaned as he got to his knees, rubbing his red-rimmed wrists. He eyed Stefan's hand distrustfully as it was offered to him.  
After a few seconds of silent staring, Damon took Stefan's hand and allowed himself to be hauled to his feet.

Patting Damon on the back, Stefan gestured to Elena.  
"I'll give you two a moment." He said. He then stepped over to the weapons table and began packing everything up.  
"Damon," Elena breathed. "I'm so sorry, Damon."  
"Don't worry about it." He said, taking her hand and nodding toward the exit. "It's always gonna be Stefan." He sighed. "I remember."  
"I'm sorry." She nodded, gripping his hand tighter.

They made a dash for the stairs but Stefan intercepted them.  
His eyes turned red, the veins spread across his face.  
"You shouldn't do that." He growled before taking hold of Damon and throwing him against the wall opposite them.  
He rounded on Elena, stalking her as she tried to back away.  
"I just wanted to make sure he got out okay before we left together. I told you, I'm yours now, Stefan." She insisted.  
"Stop lying to me!" Stefan roared. "I didn't want it to be this way. But if I can't have you, no one can. Certainly not Damon."  
Elena gasped as her back collided with the rough cave wall. She watched as Stefan pulled a long, menacing looking knife from his pocket. "I really wish it didn't have to end like this, but you're not giving me much choice."

Closing her eyes, Elena waited for the blow to come, but suddenly Stefan was knocked to the ground.  
The two brothers rolled across the floor, fighting for dominance. The cellar filled with sounds of punches landing, grunts of pain, blood mixing with dirt, and the clatter of the knife as it was knocked from Stefan's grip.  
Elena ran closer, attempting to grab the knife herself, but Stefan was quicker. He snatched the blade from the dirt and drove it straight into Elena's chest.

"No!" Damon cried. "Elena!"  
"I'm sorry." Stefan grunted, pulling the knife from her body and disappearing through the door.  
Damon fell to his knees for the second time that day, this time by Elena's side. "Elena! No! Look at me!" He held her in his arms, supporting her shoulders in his lap, her head in his hands. "Stay with me! It's going to be ok. You're okay."  
"Damon." She rasped. "Damon, I lov-" She coughed, some blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.  
Damon hushed her. "I know. I love you too. Always have, always will." He could feel Elena's breath begin to weaken.  
"I'm so sorry, Damon." She whispered. "I-."  
"No. Elena, look at me. Keep your eyes on me." He caressed her cheek, looking into her eyes. "Elena." He called. "Elena!"

His voice was far away now. She could feel the blood filling her lungs, drowning her slowly. "Damon." She wheezed.  
"Elena."  
She closed her eyes, just for a second. Her body ached. She just needed to rest her eyes for a second.  
"Elena."  
Then, suddenly, the pain was gone. Everything was okay. She opened her eyes and smiled a smile that lit up her whole face.  
"It's okay." She breathed. "I'm okay."  
With one last rattling breath, she slipped into the darkness. It was warm and comfortable. She liked it there.  
Damon watched the light leave her eyes, her lips still stretched in a smile.  
"Elena." He choked. "Elena, please no." He pulled her head to his chest and rocked back and forth. "Elena."

* * *

Elena sat up, gasping for air. Water splashed over the edge of the tub as she jerked awake.  
"Elena?" She turned and looked at Damon who was still laying beneath her. "You okay?"

Elena took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It's okay. I'm okay." She said. "I love you, you know."  
Damon smiled and opened his arms to her. She settled back into his embrace and closed her eyes. "Always have, always will."


End file.
